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Post subject: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 5:06 pm
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After a very long wait for the re-issues to hit the street, I finally got my hands on a new Coronado via the interweb... arrived in good shape but with pretty high action + string buzz on low strings. I played around w/ the bridge a bit and have jst ignored it in an attempt to give the guitar a chance to acclimate to life in the swamp.

To make a long story long, I finally decided to mess around w/ it some more & have discovered the truss rod is totally maxed out...

This thing is brand-spankin-new.
I waited forever for it.
Now I gotta send it back to Fender.

Major bummer.

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 7:41 pm
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well you could always remove the adjusting nut and install a washer or two behind it giving you more to work with. thats right out of dan erlywines book.

ive got an old marwin from the late 30s that i used a heating pad on the neck with clamps and a shim . that one has no truss rod. neck is now perfect. there is always something you can do .

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:32 pm
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Tightening the truss rod too much will give you more fret buzz. If it's maxed out, then the neck probably has a convex bow, meaning the fretboard is higher in the middle. Back it off. The truss rod is not for adjusting the action, it's for straightening the neck.
Get the neck straight, then adjust the bridge. Just "messing around" can get you in trouble :)
Here's a link to help with the specifications on how to get it done right:
http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... tup-guide/
Most of the guitars coming out of the factory are in the 9.5"-12" radius neck, so use those specs unless you know exactly what your guitar came with.
Hope this helps.

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:32 am
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Ok, alarm bells sound for me when you say you "messed around" with the truss rod. Unless you used a capo and a feeler gauge and ideally a radius gauge then you're just doing it by guesswork.

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:45 am
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GilgaFrank wrote:
Ok, alarm bells sound for me when you say you "messed around" with the truss rod. Unless you used a capo and a feeler gauge and ideally a radius gauge then you're just doing it by guesswork.


Unless you have a neck with two separate truss rods, a radius gauge is not useful for truss rod adjustment. It can come in handy later, when setting up the action on the bridge, but a good caliper is more useful, especially if you play fingerstyle.

But yes, a capo (or two) and feelers is a must for adjusting the truss rod. It's not hard:

- Put a capo on the first fret, to take the nut out of the equation.
- Press down on the fret closest to the headstock that is not part of the bendable neck. Usually that will be around the 17th fret. Some instructions say use the top fret (21/22/24) - that's not the best choice, because the frets next to the pickup can become a bit raised on old guitars or humid climates, and you can't adjust that part of the neck with a truss rod anyhow[*].
- Measure with a feeler halfway between your capo and the fret you depress. If you don't have a feeler, a piece of the lightest string you use will do in a pinch. You'll want approximately that much clearing between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret where the neck bows the most.
- Check again a couple of frets up and down, until you find the fret that's lowest, i.e. the relief is highest. It can differ a bit from guitar to guitar. Wood is a living material, and bend slightly differently from sample to sample.
- Adjust the truss rod to compensate.
If the biggest clearing was too high, loosen the truss rod (widdershins).
If the biggest clearing was too low (or none), tighten the truss rod (deosill/clockwise).

Adjust in small increments, and wait an hour or two before measuring again. Less if you play it.

Never tighten the truss rod past its end point. If tightening, I usually loosen it a tiny bit first, to make sure I can tell the difference between its natural resistance and the end point.

How much to tighten/loosen? It depends, but my rule of thumb is to think of the truss rod nut as a clock face. Adjusting 5 minutes is a small adjustment, and 10 minutes a large adjustment. Never go past 15 minutes, or you put too much short term strain on the wood. Give it time to adjust.

[*]: If the top (18-21/22/24 range) frets are raised due to age/humidity, you can compensate with the neck tilt. Many Fenders have a micro-tilt adjustment screw. If not, washers can help.


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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:02 pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtKzL3n0fgc


heres a few videos on what to do to fix tha problem..


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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:24 pm
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filthypit wrote:
...but with pretty high action + string buzz on low strings.

Hi filthypit: high action and string buzz? That's an odd combination.


amx05462 wrote:
well you could always remove the adjusting nut and install a washer or two behind it giving you more to work with. thats right out of dan erlywines book.

+1. If it's got a removable nut on the end of the trussrod then this is a much easier, quicker, cheaper solution than sending the guitar back.

...Assuming it's that type of trussrod, that is. I don't know the Coronado, but from the picture I'm not sure it has an easily removable nut on the end of the rod.

...And assuming the rod does indeed need to be tightened. As indicated earlier, trussrods are for adjusting neck relief, not action.

I'd want to begin by laying a steel rule edgeways on along the tops of the frets and assess the relief, and then take it from there. (Capo'ing strings is fine, but two foot steel rules are easier and often give a more accurate reading. Either way, it's the same measurement you're looking at - see posts above.)

Good luck - C

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:37 pm
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Ceri wrote:
Hi filthypit: high action and string buzz? That's an odd combination.


It sounds like the bridge is lower on one side than the other. :idea: It looks like these have something similar to a 'tune-o-matic' bridge? Should be able to adjust it.

To O.P., I'm all for doing your own guitar work, but may I make one suggestion? Take the guitar to a technician for a good setup. Let a tech do the first one, and then hopefully you can take it from there.

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:58 pm
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strings10927 wrote:
It sounds like the bridge is lower on one side than the other.

Right. Or, the trussrod is already too tight and pulling the neck into backbow, causing buzzing at the low frets while the action at the upper frets is too high. Or, a nut slot or two are cut too low, causing buzzing on open strings. Or... Or...

Etc.

strings10927 wrote:
To O.P., I'm all for doing your own guitar work, but may I make one suggestion? Take the guitar to a technician for a good setup. Let a tech do the first one, and then hopefully you can take it from there.

All things considered, this is excellent advice.

I think a Fender Authorised Dealer should address this issue with a setup for free, under the warranty?

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:38 pm
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Are you sure it's maxed out? Many times glue gets in/on the truss rod of new guitars and it gets stuck (happened to me). I would let a Fender approved repair service take a look at it. As long as it's under warranty I would not take any chances. If something breaks - it's better if they break it.

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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:36 pm
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strings10927 wrote:
To O.P., I'm all for doing your own guitar work, but may I make one suggestion? Take the guitar to a technician for a good setup. Let a tech do the first one, and then hopefully you can take it from there.

That's a crapshoot, though. Unless you go to a real luthier or someone who really cares, they may do a half-arsed job. This is especially true for the "technicians" at big chain stores, whose prime objective is to get the job done quickly.
Every single guitar I've encountered that was set up by a certain big retailer had intonation problems, wrong relief, and what I refer to as Harmony action: way too high, but it stops the frets from buzzing. Their technicians have the same relative quality as McDonald's has to fine dining.

So yes, if you can get a good technician to do it, great. If they don't ask you how you play or what problems you encounter, that's a bad sign.


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Post subject: Re: Maxed out truss rod on brand new Coronado ~ MAJOR BUMMER
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:43 pm
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arth1 wrote:
GilgaFrank wrote:
Ok, alarm bells sound for me when you say you "messed around" with the truss rod. Unless you used a capo and a feeler gauge and ideally a radius gauge then you're just doing it by guesswork.



Never tighten the truss rod past its end point. If tightening, I usually loosen it a tiny bit first, to make sure I can tell the difference between its natural resistance and the end point.

How much to tighten/loosen? It depends, but my rule of thumb is to think of the truss rod nut as a clock face. Adjusting 5 minutes is a small adjustment, and 10 minutes a large adjustment. Never go past 15 minutes, or you put too much short term strain on the wood. Give it time to adjust.
.

What End point?
It depends on the type of truss rod, if its a Bi flex rod the neck can be adjusted both convex and concave. As you loosen the nut it will reach the necks natural position and if you continue turning the nut will begin to tighten again as the rod pushes against the dowel making the neck bow forward. Good thing about bi flex rods ease to adjust bow and back bow.

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